Airports

Gatwick Airport has formally started the process to bring its standby runway into routine use by submitting a notice to the Planning Inspectorate (PINS). The airport — which is currently the second busiest single-runway airport in the world — is hoping to make use of its existing “Northern Runway” to increase capacity for departing flights. The runway is currently only used during emergencies. Gatwick will submit a ‘Scoping Request’ to PINS next month, which sets out…

Heathrow recorded its busiest year ever in 2018 with over 80 million passengers travelling through Europe’s busiest airport, an increase of 2.7 per cent on 2017. The results come following a busy Christmas period, with 6.5 million passengers travelling through the hub in December. Africa and Latin America saw the highest levels of passenger growth, rising 9.3 per cent and seven per cent respectively on last year. The airport’s only passenger decline was in domestic flights, which…

Heathrow and Gatwick airports will invest millions of pounds in anti-drone technology to prevent a repeat of the disruption caused at Gatwick last month. A spokesperson for Gatwick said the airport had spent £5 million on new defences after flights were grounded and the airport was repeatedly forced to close following a series of drone sightings between 19 and 21 December. The disruption caused mass cancellations and delays at the Sussex hub, affecting about 1,000 flights…

VINCI Airports has signed an agreement to acquire a 50.01 per cent stake in London Gatwick Airport from Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) in a deal worth £2.9bn. GIP, which acquired Gatwick in 2009, will continue to operate the remaining 49.99 per cent of the airport after the transaction is completed later this year. Nicolas Notebaert, chief executive officer of VINCI Concessions and president of VINCI Airports, said: “As Gatwick’s new industrial partner, VINCI Airports will support…

Heathrow Airport has revealed its plan for ‘carbon neutral growth,’ outlining the role it will play on four key areas to reduce emissions from the addition of a third runway. Published today, the plan builds on the momentum of technological change in the aviation industry to make travel more sustainable, with the four key areas including cleaner aircraft technology, improvements to airspace and ground operations, sustainable aviation fuels, and carbon offsetting methods. On aircraft technology,…

Gatwick Airport has announced plans to increase capacity, including the conversion of its emergency runway into a second runway as it looks to expand. Publishing its draft master plan, Gatwick said: “This innovative development, which would meet all international safety requirements, would be delivered without increasing the airport’s noise footprint and provide greater operational resilience. “While in the early stages of exploration, Gatwick is confident the project would remain within the existing airport footprint and existing…

Osaka Kansai International Airport remains closed after Typhoon Jebi made landfall in Japan on Tuesday, bringing with it a path of destruction across western Japan. Images and video from the airport showed the runway completely submerged in water, while the apron of several aircraft hangs over several feet of water. The transport ministry said the airport closed all of its runways at noon and shut down the entire facility at 3pm due to flooding, with…

Heathrow Airport recorded an all-time high of 38.1 million passengers during the first half of 2018, up 2.5 per on last year. According to the airport, strong satisfaction scores are behind the increase in passenger demand to fly from the London hub, with the announcement coming just two months after Heathrow announced its busiest first quarter ever. Growth was seen across all markets, with four new connections to China in 2018 helping cargo through the…

MPs have voted in favour to build a third runway at London’s Heathrow Airport. After decades of debate, the controversial issue finally was approved in Parliament, with 415 MPs voting in favour of the proposition and 19 against, making for a majority of 296. Conservative MPs were under orders to support the government, but eight voted against the proposition. Labour’s official position was to oppose expansion, but its MPs were given a free vote. The…

Gatwick Airport has announced a new five-year plan to tackle its capacity problem, pumping an extra £1.1bn worth of investment into the airport. With passenger numbers expected to reach 53 million by 2023, the UK’s second largest airport has been looking at ways of growing and increasing capacity, including the addition of a third runway. Gatwick currently operates as a single-use runway airport, owing to the proximity of its two runways, 08L/26R and 08R/26L. Having lost…